A moment later, she heard the sound again. Spinning round, she pushed the sitting room door open. It was then that she saw it: a dark shadow-shape heaved towards her; scarlet eyes bulged out of a grotesque head; and razor sharp talons clawed the ground. There was no hesitation this time. Poppy shoved the cottage door open and as fast as her legs could carry her, she dashed back up the pathway, through the forest and towards where the door had been.

But there was nothing there. Nothing that is except for more forest, stretching endlessly on, darkening with shadows and shapes and vague silhouettes that moved without meaning. “Come back,” hissed a voice behind her!

Chapter 4 – The Return

Ignoring the insistent voice that rang in her ears, Poppy paused where she was sure that the door must have roughly been standing. There was no door but there was a small pool that had been hidden between the trees. It was a strange green with the odd bubble of marsh gas breaking the still surface. Silver-green reeds grew round the edges. Peering into the clear water, she could just see what looked like the shape of a door.at the very bottom.

Immediately, she plunged into the pool. Poppy had expected it to be icy cold but it was actually quite warm. Luckily, that summer she had worked hard at school in her swimming lessons. Mr Carruthers had said that she was like a dolphin and, ‘knew no fear’. She could hear the sound of footsteps approaching fast. She took a deep breath and dived down.

Down, down through the clear green water towards the outline of the door at the very bottom of the pool. Her heart hammered in her chest. Desperately, she needed to breathe but she held on and kicked harder. Grasping the door handle, she tugged. With a whoosh, as if the pool was emptying itself, she shot through the door and in to the corridor. Exhausted, she lay there panting, like a fish out of water. The door was shut. The corridor was dry. Amazingly, her clothes were dry. She was back in the Emporium but really none the wiser. What had happened?

Guiltily, she tiptoed back, sneaked through the curtains and stepped into the shop. Mr Luciano Gold stared at her, “Ah, I see you have come back to us. Did you find what you were looking for?” Poppy shook her head.

“The thing is,” Mr Luciano Gold explained, “you can visit many wonders but the past cannot be undone, so we do not always find what we expect. Still, there is always another day.” He put down the small silver beetle that he was polishing, wound up its clockwork and smiled.

“Come again another day,” he said, holding the door open.

Poppy stepped out into the street and then, wanting to find out more, turned round. But Mr Luciano Gold and the Emporium had disappeared. It had quite simply disappeared as if it had never existed. She felt the shiver of magic and shuddered.

Maybe tomorrow, she thought to herself as she trudged home. Maybe tomorrow. What she did not notice was that she was being followed by an owl. It perched in a tree outside her house and watched as she let herself in. The owl tilted its head to one side and sighed. It had all the time in the world.